A second chance
by FoRsak3n
Summary: Xx InuYasha fic xX The group finds themselves walking in circles, so could this possibly be a trap? And if so, will it be too late by the time they actually realize this?


Disclaimer: No, I don't own InuYasha...

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Chapter One: Something doesn't feel right...

The gentle, summer breeze trailing by picked up InuYasha's long silver hair, causing his bangs to dance across his face while dangling in his eyes. Warm ray's of the setting sun managed to trail down against the group, having the forest trees circling around the entire traveling party permit scattered rays of dull sunshine to pierce through the shadows of their branches; managing to cast a lighted path along the forest road as they strolled along. The male was walking at the same, slow pace that everyone else was using; remaining at Kagome's side when she asked which direction they should possibly be headed.

Without turning his head, he flicked his golden amber hues over in her direction; blinking to the question at hand as he looked to her out of the corner of his eye. His bangs were casting shadows across his visage now to give a mysterious appearance to the half demon as he walked, strolling silently with the group as they strolled around with no particular destination.

"Hmm, well, I don't sense any shards nearby.. so, which way do you think we should possibly go?", the teenage female asked, her brown hues instantly flicking over to InuYasha whom seemed to always have something to say about which direction the travailing party would engage in.

Without even giving InuYasha a chance to speak, Shippou added in his own suggestion, glancing up to Kagome while he road in the front basket of her bike. "What about North? We're facing that direction anyways.."

Once Shippou gave his own input on the situation to go North, the Hanyou parted his lips to protest. Not that going North was a bad idea, just the thought that the young demon came up with it was the fact he didn't like. Just as he was about to add his own smart remark, the Taijiya added in on the subject, causing the male to shut his mouth with a grunt; sensitive ears twitching slightly at their voices.

"Actually, Kagome-chan, if I remember correctly, there should be a village near here. Why don't we head there and possibly rest for the night?"

Hearing this, something seemed to have sparked inside of the Japanese school girl, for her eyes lit up with a happy grin plastered across her face. She seemed to have liked the idea, for she was already talking to herself, giggling inwardly at the thought of having the chance to take a hot bath and sleep in a bed; a real bed. While Kagome was off in lala-land, the tiny fox youkai moved to position himself on the miko's shoulder, watching her curiously before turning to look at InuYasha. Seeing the Kitsune move, InuYasha turned his head to glare at the boy; only for the simple reason that Shippou gave him a mischievous grin that was meant to tease the Hanyou.

Growling ever so lowly within his throat, he balled up his fist in an aggressive fashion; going to bop the child on the head before a strong aroma had caught his attention; causing him to halt in all action The smell was enough to make one sick to their stomach, radiating with the fragrance of rotting flesh almost. It smelt of demon, a weak one, but a demon none the less. This was rather interesting. The Hanyou hadn't seen any action in quite some time, and even though it would be an easy kill, he was ready to fight; this being seen as a cocky smirk crossed the male's lips.

Averting his full attention in the direction of the nauseating smell now, he completely forgot about Shippou as he tilted his head back some to sniff the air a few times; picking up on the scent as his right hand moved across to the hilt of his sword. His clawed digits wrapping around the Tetsusaiga's leather hilt while his left arm had other business of its own. Extending out his free limb in an overly protective way, the half demon pushed lightly on the Higurashi maiden; stepping around to stand in front of her in order to protect her.

"Get back Kagome!"

Though, when a simple boar demon came running out, InuYasha gave another fanged smirk before letting up on his guard. This demon was a joke, not really something he would need to put effort into. Releasing the swords' hilt, he brought up his right palm to crack his knuckles before giving a chuckle; being arrogant and cocky. Heh, as always; typical InuYasha. Just as the boar lunged for the girls, InuYasha angled his wrist just right in order to preform his Iron Reaver Soul Stealer as he lept into the air; only to have his glory stolen by Sango driving the beast away first by throwing her Hiraikotsu in a warning to the demon.

Landing in a crouching position, not even three feet from where he had started, the male huffed at this; scratching at his left cheek with his claw while trying to play it off like he meant to let Sango protect the group, obviously pouting about the whole thing. Standing up straight now, he puffed out his chest before throwing his nose into the air. Closing his eyes while trying to put back up his tough guy composure while he sulked inwardly about having his fun taken by the Taijiya. Men... they act more like children then actual grown-ups sometimes.

"Feh..."

InuYasha slipped his hands back into the sleeves of his kimono top; having the cloth of the fire rat hide his clawed digits while starting to walk again, clearing his throat as he done so. Totally ignoring the others as he walked on, hearing the voice of Higurashi complaining about something under her breath. Blinking his eyes open, the male turned to peer at her over his shoulder, seeing the girl sitting there on her butt. He hadn't even noticed it, but the Hanyou had pushed back a bit too rough, causing the teenage girl to land, oh so gracefully on her rear. Not to mention that a lovely rock broke her fall.

Rubbing her butt, the girl glared up at the half demon, causing him to shudder inwardly before turning his complete body around to face her. Giving him an, 'you are SO going to pay' look, Kagome grumbled before standing to dust off her green skirt; trying to hide the crimson blush that had already started to creep along her cheeks. Having the miko so upset with him, the silver haired male twitched, ready to hear a _sit_, or possibly have her yell at him. Either way, neither would be new to him.

Poking at the knot that was already starting to whelm up on her tooshie, Kagome finally balled up her fists, directing her full blown aggression on InuYasha who was still awaiting for her to give the beads of subjugation their command to throw his body into the ground like he was nothing but a rag doll. Though, the longer he stood there waiting, the more curious he became. It seemed that she wasn't going to say the dreaded word, instead, she was giving him a short of innocent expression that meant she was thinking of another punishment for him.

The Hanyou was staring at Kagome with a content look when the so called 'innocent' expression played a role in the Higurashi's thoughts, catching his attention as his smug look that was once plastered on his face quickly dropped; making him blink at her worried. Oh no...he knew that look. She was up to something and most likely he was going to get dragged into doing something he probably doesn't want to do. Quirking a brow at the reincarnated priestess, his ears twitched again before huffing as his hands suddenly dropped from the interior of his belled sleeves; knowing what she was going to say before she even asked.

Narrowing his slitted orbs, InuYasha grumbled under his breath before strolling over to the bike swiftly; in sort of an annoyed way. She had been complaining ever since they started this morning about the luggage on the bike; containing their food and other necessary items. Standing above the over-loaded contraption now, his hands moved to bring the palms together; lacing his fingers so he could push down in order to crack the joints before going on to his next task at hand. Retrieve the bike.

Extending his right arm, he wrapped his clawed digits over the bikes metal frame before jerking it up in order to throw the device over his shoulder. The Beads of Subjugation bouncing and sliding against the collar of his hitoe with each move he made; making the purple ball-shaped pieces look more along the lines of a shaded black tint with the fire rats red cloth as he positioned the bike on the joint connecting his neck and upper arm. As he did this, almost as if he was an obedient puppy, Sango took the opportunity to demand something from Miroku.

"You know Miroku," She started, blinking to him with those light colored eyes of hers. "You could have offered to carry something long before this... Kagome-chan shouldn't have to do everything herself."

Hearing Sango's idea on the lecherous monk helping with the supplies made the half demon smirk while he used his claw to scratch at his cheek again. Liking that idea actually; why should he do all the work when Miroku was just as capable as he was? He could pitch in every once and a while right? Watching the other male for a moment, he awaited to see the reaction Miroku would give to the given order before casting his gaze up to the sky after growing bored with him shortly after wards. Seeing how the monk always came up with excuses in the tightest of predicaments, he wasn't going to hold his breath to receive help anytime soon.

"Ah, but my dear Sango-san, if I were to pitch in now, then Kagome's punishment on InuYasha would only be futile. Otherwise, I would have offered already."

InuYasha simply let out a grunted chuckle, knowing it was bound to happen. And it did. The monk came up with some lame excuse at the last moment, trying to make it look like InuYasha should be the one stuck with the labor. "Feh... I still don't see why you need to carry so much anyways... especially those stupid books of yours..."

Obviously the male was referring to the food and first aid equipment, but since that sentence was mumbled under his breath, it wasn't meant for Kagome to answer. Or even hear for that matter. Holding the bike steady with his hand, the male dropped his golden optics back down to the surrounding comrades before shifting in his stance, running the idea of where to set up camp over in his mind. Knowing that dusk was approaching soon, it was definitely a good idea to start moving again. The thought of staying at the village sounded like a pretty good idea by now, so the arrogant Hanyou picked up the over-stuffed yellow nap sack and threw it over his free shoulder; tugging on its nylon strap to better adjust the bag against his shoulder blade before huffing again to Miroku. Without another word, he turned and started walking, this being his own way of telling the others that he was tired of just standing around and was ready to start moving.

Time was of the essence now, and it would have seemed that the more the group walked, the further away this village seemed. It would have seemed that the traveling companions were walking around in nothing but circles, heading no where the harder they tried. By now, the sun had already started to disappear behind the far horizon, leaving behind darkness to creep in on them. Well, so much for the idea of getting to sleep in a bed tonight. Actually, the way the scenery kept going on, it would have appeared that they were going in a complete circle. But that couldn't be possible since they hadn't made any turns; so the whole idea of going in a circle seemed odd itself.

Silence was all that was permitted by the male as he walked in the lead now, taking the group deeper into the forests' scenery. The more the walked, the darker it got; soon having the sounds of crickets and other nightly forms of life taking over to surround them in music of the night. The suns' palest gleams could barely be seen over the far horizon now as a few glistening stars started to flicker into existence; brightening up that beautiful blue sky over head. The stars seemed to dance in any ones vision whom had decided to take a glance a their sparkling rhythmical moves. Such the gorgeous sight was during another night in the Feudal Era.

After awhile, the Hanyou paused at an open clearing; taking a few quick glances around before easily setting Kagome's bike against a near by tree. Placing the overly stuffed yellow backpack beside the said bike, InuYasha then placed his hands into the belled sleeves of the fire rats cloth again while turning to face the Higurashi maiden. His golden orbs falling onto her pale face now as the male placed his full attention on the teenager; soon to drop his gaze down to the kitsune awaiting in her folded arms across her chest. Blinking to Shippou, as if checking on the child, he then flicked his hues back to the raven haired girl before looking away all together. If he had been worried for Kagome, or even Shippou, he would have never admitted to it.

"We'll set up camp here. I'll go look for fire wood..."

Nothing more was said by the male, leaving mute actions to talk for him. As he walked past Kagome, he turned to head off into the woods alone; going to follow through with what he had instructed for himself. Gather wood for their fire. Managing to leave behind Kagome with a saddened expression crossing her features. As he placed more distance between him and the girl, the male found himself treading his way through overgrown bushes and low branches until coming across a few decent pieces of burnable substances here and there. Debating on how long he should wait before heading back; thinking on how much time he should give Kagome to calm down before attempting to talk with her. Possibly to say sorry?

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(( (A/N): Well... that's all for the first chapter. InuYasha should _so_ apologize and pet Kagome's butt for her. But that would lead to some other things, so yeah... I might keep it the sweet and innocent type fanfic; the way I had started it. Don't you think it's a little strange that they're going in a circle though? Hmm... Review and let me know if I should continue on. ))


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